{"id":90454,"date":"2026-01-05T23:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90454\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T23:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T23:26:07","slug":"gov-hochul-plans-to-follow-school-cellphone-ban-with-new-limits-on-social-media-use-by-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90454\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Hochul plans to follow school cellphone ban with new limits on social media use by kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Hochul is looking to pass more safeguards on social media use<\/a> by youngsters this year, including an expansion of age verification laws and new restrictions on artificial intelligence chatbots.<\/p>\n

The proposals, unveiled at the governor\u2019s high school alma mater Monday ahead of her annual State of the State speech<\/a>, would be among the strictest in the nation and follow a flurry of recent laws in New York with the same goal \u2014 to protect kids online<\/a>. Ahead of this school year, Hochul banned students from using cell phones during the school day, after moving to regulate algorithmic social media feeds for minors.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo keep our kids safe \u2014 mentally, physically \u2014 we have to act,\u201d Hochul said during a news conference at Hamburg High School near Buffalo. \u201cWe have to demand better safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The package of laws, if passed, would overhaul default privacy settings on many social media platforms.<\/p>\n

It would block users from messaging, viewing the profiles of, or tagging the accounts of minors if they\u2019re not connected, and require kids younger than 13 to get parental permission to add new friends or accept more followers. On sites that allow users to share their locations, the whereabouts of minors would automatically be turned off.<\/p>\n

The proposals would also expand new age verification requirements on social media sites<\/a> to online gaming platforms such as Roblox, which recently faced a barrage of high-profile lawsuits for allegedly facilitating child sexual exploitation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roblox did not immediately return the Daily News\u2019 request for comment. However, Eric Porterfield, a representative for the company, told The New York Times that Roblox would \u201csoon\u201d require users in the United States to go through \u201cfacial age checks,\u201d<\/a> and restrict them from chatting with others who appear to be much older or younger.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom toys to food to cars, we regulate all sorts of products to keep children safe,\u201d state Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn), who alongside Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Queens) drafted the bill that paved the way for Hochul\u2019s plan, said in a statement. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason platforms like Roblox should be different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s proposals would also prevent minors from gambling their parents\u2019 money on the gaming platforms, and disable certain AI chatbot features that have been blamed for youth suicides<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The package comes amid growing concern about the dangers of emerging technology on young people\u2019s still-developing minds. Those concerns gained traction as more families shared their stories in the media or testified before Congress, including of AI chatbots that sparked one-sided attachments, or even romantic relationships<\/a>, with children too young to understand the implications.<\/p>\n

In one high-profile episode, a parent alleged the chatbot was not only aware of a teen\u2019s suicidal plans, but offered to write his suicide note<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Separately but also part of her plan, Hochul wants to expand mental health training to all high school sophomores statewide. The idea is to help teens recognize when their friends need help, and encourage them to seek guidance from an adult.<\/p>\n

The governor said New York has already certified 5,000 teens and 3,000 adults through a pilot version of the same program. A New York City public schools spokeswoman did not immediately say if any local students participated in the pilot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want this to be a full commitment from every school,\u201d Hochul said at the news conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Hochul is looking to pass more safeguards on social media use by youngsters this year, including an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[85,267,9,24,264,10,12,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-90454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-new-york-county","13":"tag-new-york-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-staten-island","17":"tag-staten-island-headlines","18":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}